Manchester City without £89m duo v Newcastle United as Liverpool & Arsenal watch on
Manchester City will be without Kevin De Bruyne and Ederson for Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final clash against Newcastle United (kick-of 5:30pm).
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Hide AdBoth players were forced off during last week's 1-1 draw at Liverpool. Ederson was hurt in a challenge with Darwin Nunez while De Bruyne picked up a groin strain. As a result, the latter was left out of the Belgium squad for upcoming friendlies against England the Republic of Ireland.
Providing an update on the £89million pair, City boss Pep Guardiola said: “Kevin’s not ready. He already played in Anfield with some problems. But he’s getting better.
"He’s not ready for tomorrow but we spoke with the manager from Belgium, Domenico Tedesco, and he decide I’m grateful because he didn’t feel good and he could recover for the rest of the season.
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Hide Ad“He played well [at Anfield]. All the players have problems but the day after he didn’t feel good, but it’s better to take care.
“Eddie is getting better, hopefully he’ll be ready after the international break. Tomorrow for sure [he is out]. He’ll have two weeks off then, he’ll recover, we’ll see how he feels. Hopefully as soon as possible.
City, however, are set to be boosted by the return of club-record signing Jack Grealish after spending two weeks out with a groin injury.
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Hide AdNewcastle head to the Etihad with the opportunity of advancing into the last four of the FA Cup since the early 2000s. However, they haven't won at that particularly stadium for 10 years.
Eddie Howe's men have faced Man City three times already this term. United lost home and away to Guardiola's side in the Premier League but knocked them out of the Carabao Cup in September.
“This season and previous ones since Eddie Howe was there and the people from Saudi Arabia took over, it’s always been tight games and we don’t expect anything different,” Guardiola said.
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Hide Ad“We have an incredible chance at home with our people. We need in home games the support of our fans like we had against United, I don’t remember that environment for a long time. Tomorrow isn’t an exception. We need it to reach the semi-final at Wembley again."
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